Home ownership is one of life’s big milestones, and the property you own will often form a large part of your retirement plan. The money you make from buying and selling property through your life will help provide for you financially later in life.

Making the right home improvements can maximize the return on your investment in your property, and some are much smarter investments than many savings accounts and less volatile and risky than a stock investment. Here we are going to look at five energy saving home improvements that can pay for themselves over time, and provide a return on your investment when it is time to sell your property.

Solar Panels and Home Battery Power Storage

Solar and battery technology has made huge advances over the last decade, and even bigger advances are on the horizon. If you can utilize solar energy at home, this is one of the smartest investments you can make.

Solar Panels

Pairing solar panels with a large home battery for power storage allows you to make huge savings on energy costs, and gives your home what will be one of the most desirable features people look for in homes over the coming decade. It also allows you to generate a lot of the power you use in your home for yourself, and even selling excess power to utility companies. In areas with a lot of sunlight, homeowners with this system often receive a check in the mail from the power company, not a bill.

Energy Efficient Windows and Insulation

Poor quality home insulation and old, energy inefficient windows are the number one cause of high energy bills in the average home. Making these small home improvements can have a big impact on your home heating bills, helping it to quickly pay for itself.

Modern home insulation and double or triple glazed windows help you home to maintain its temperature, and this works all year around. Not only will you spend less on heating in the winter, but you will also spend less on air-conditioning or cooling in the summer.

Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Even if you don’t own an electric vehicle, a charging station on your property or in your garage can still have a value to you.

Electric vehicles are going to become more and more common in the future, and will be a convenience that many people will look for when they are house shopping. Charging stations can be hard to find for many EV owners, and you can make a charging station in your home available for use on an EV charging network, and get paid to do it.

If you do in fact own and operate an electric vehicle, then you can save money and even make some money by letting other electric vehicle drivers use your home charging station as a part of an existing EV charging network, such as PlugShare. These services give EV drivers plenty of places to charge their cars, and can add a fresh revenue stream to help them save even more on energy.